History How Many of You Did This ??

WOW!!!!Bruce.

 

s55mercury.Same thing happened to me. The gas jockey wanted to help me work on a 67 Mustang I had in the garage.1st had to repair a right rear tire so I told the kid just use a floor jack not the lift. Well the Mustang was a unibody. He winds up jacking up the rear floor and he calls me. I have to take a big sledge hammer and pound the floor back down. Next I put it up on the lift and change the oil and filter. Then let the car down and the kid gets in it and starts the car and starts racing the motor. I am screaming at him theres no oil it the motor. I get it shut off and add the oil. Start the car up and CRAP its smoking. I had to add 4 cans of S.T.P. in it to stop it from smoking. Then I check under the hood. Well back then the brake fluid and other fluids were on gallon cans that let you squirt the stuff in you needed. I was getting ready to top off the master cylinder and here the kid filling it with trans. fluid. Well you all know what that does to rubber. LOL.I had to get all the brake fluid and trans fluid out of the master cylinder and refill it with brake fluid. They soon fired the kid, But the owner of the Mustang kept coming back as a regular customer. You cant make this stuff up. Wild days. LOL. Bruce.

 

Another time at this Shell station. The owner would come in around lunch time and then wander over to the bar next door and have lunch and get shit faced. The other guy and I drank {I don't know if you all remember the Mini Miller small beer bottles} but we did. We usually we were the only one that used the soda machine in the shop. So the other guy gets the key for the machine and we fill then with the mini Millers beer. It was the perfect fit. It worked well until the boss wife decided she wanted a coke about a week later and a beer popped out. Wow. The crap really hit the fan on that one. LOL. Ahh good times. Bruce.

 

Pumped gas at the local Shell station in the mid 80's, it was standard to wash their windshields and ask if they wanted their oil checked. My Dad started his remodeling company and needed a helper so that ended my "Petroleum transport technician" career. Great job for a kid in those days.

 

as a teen in the late 70's i worked at a full/self service gulf station in new caney texas. nothing special just a everyday job, but it was fun, and kept me out of trouble.

 

Other things that happen working at gas station as a kid

doing a engine oil change and draining the auto trans fluid and then adding 6 Qts of oil to the engine, customer leaves engine starts smoking and leaking oil and trans starts to slip, not a good day!

someone pulls up in a early 50 Chevy with inline 6 and ask to have his radiator topped off, so the new kid (not me this time) takes the oil cap off and fills the block with water.
the owner comes running out and tells the customer not to start the engine because we just filled it up with water.
customer tells owner hes done the same thing before and it won't hurt it, customer drives off and we never heard from him!

putting STP in a engine in on a cold winter day was also impossible, we had to put the can on the customers exhaust manifold and have him start the engine and let it run about 10 minutes before we could get it pour in!

 

I worked at a full service Standard station part time for a few winters back in 69-71.
As a seasonal construction worker and recently married the hours were flexible to the point where on the very cold or snowy days I could work the 16 hours the station was open if I desired and @ $2.50 an hour it was all good.
Besides working the drive as we called it,which during the mini- skirt era wasn't a bad gig,I did oil changes, tire repair, road service and many times the mechanic Bill had me help him when there was a back-up with disassembly. He also taught me the "loaded" condenser trick.
When Bill ordered me my own mechanics shirts (with name patch) I knew he accepted me as more than a pump jockey, Thanks Bill for sharing your knowledge with me.

 

During my senior year of high school (1981), I started working on the gas island at the local JC Penneys auto center in San Jose, CA. I wore a dark blue mechanic shirt with my name on it and dark blue pants. It was self service, but before the coming of electronic pumps. I would have to go look at each pump to determine the amount of the sale and manually reset the pump with a key. Then I would take payment at a cash register in a booth (very much like to a phone booth) located between the pumps. Many of our customers bought gas there because they could pay with their JC Penneys credit card, a lot of others gassed up there because we were one of the few places left that sold 91 octane leaded premium. I would pump gas for the older folks, pretty girls and some of the regulars if I wasn't too busy.

One of the regulars that I remember was an fella in his '70s who drove a cherry '58 Olds two door hard top. He came in at least once a week and always patiently waited until I wasn't busy and was able to pump gas for him. Another regular was nice looking gal a few years older than me, she was a disc jockey on a really popular rock and roll radio station (KOME), her DJ name was "Joana". She had a '64 GTO convertible that started out pretty rough and over the course of a year and a half got completely restored, beautiful machine.

When the shop was really busy, I would help out and change batteries and tires between gas customers. At one end of the mall where we were located was JC Penneys and our auto center and at the other end was Montgomery Wards and their auto center. At this time both stores sold mopeds through their catalog departments. When a customer was to take delivery of a moped, it arrived at the auto center dis-assembled in a box. We would assemble and give it a test ride before it was delivered to the customer. The test ride always consisted of riding to the other end of the mall and buzzing through the shop at Montgomery Wards auto center. The Wards guys did the same, buzzing through our shop on test rides. I worked there until late 1982, when JC Penneys decided to close all of their auto centers nation wide.

 

When I was about 17 working at a Skelly full service station, some friends had gone hunting and stopped in and 1 of the guys that was always a little crazy carried in a gunny sack from the trunk of the car and opened it up, out came a really pissed young coyote that had been nearly frozen when they found it. During the ride in the trunk of the car it had warmed up and was not the least bit happy about it's situation. You've never seen so many guys scrambling and climbing the shelves or getting out the door into the service area!

 

I worked at a Hess station in the mid 70's , full uniform

 

LOL I changed the oil in a '55 Ford at our station in FG. We used to push 'em out and lit 'em off (who knows why). Anyway long story short I pushed the sedan out and the lady lit it off and took off down the road. I had left the gasket off the bolt that went through the canister and she dumped most of her oil before she hit the end of the driveway. I chased her down in the shop truck and pulled her back with a chain. I couldn't even think up an excuse, so I just told her I screwed up. She smiled and said, "Well we all do that once in a while." I gave her coffee and some cookies and tuned it up while I was fixing my screw up. Figured she earned it.

 

Any woman will tell you: Unintentionally missing a period or two can spell trouble.

 

Can't pump your own in NJ either

 

Sure wish those of you with stories to tell would write them down! I'd buy a book like that....

Hardcover,paperback or Kindle - need a good laugh every once in a while!

Rod

 

Another story......as I was working there it was late at night and the tanker showed up to top off or underground tanks....now the driver was to stay with the truck as it was filling but he came in the office and got on the phone and started and argument with his girl friend.
I was just setting at the desk with my feet propped up and thought I seen something running past the front of the office so I turned and look at the hose going in the tank and high test was gushing about a foot and a half out of the tank.
So I tell the driver he has sold us about 50 gallons more high test than we could store so he runs out a shuts of the valve on the truck.
Now he is in panic mode and is pleading with me to not call the fire department and I tell him what am I suppose to do with all this gas that has ran into the low spot by the high test pump that will hold at least 20 gallons and it also has ran down the street to the storm drain.
So as I am waiting for the fire department to show up this drunk drives his car right into the puddle of gas by the pump as I am trying to wave him off. Now he rolls his window down and says but I want high test and I say no problem just open your door and start scooping it up because you are setting on about 20 gallons right now.
Sure was glad that ol Pontiac didn't have a bad plug wire.
Now the fire department show up and dump my trash can and try to scoop up some of the gas in the puddle and walk behind the office and dump what they can there and wash the rest down the street into the storm drain.
As they were dumping the gas behind the office I great guys now if this place goes up in flames I can't even run that way to get away from it.
I t was my lucky day that day that it didn't go up in flames.

 

Summer of 1955,worked for my Grandad in his Flying"A",later in 50s in Wever's Standard Oil in Coconut Grove,Fla @ a big 75cents hr. that was higher then the other boy,I could change oil ,filter an belts,vs they only pumped gas at 50cents hr

 

Ida given you a big ol tip you big lug.

I think that a lot of people don't remember minimum wage being as low as it was when we were kids. Yours lower than mine obviously.

 

WOW I would needed a beer after that!!!!Bruce.

 

My job at a Mobil station in the summer before my senior year, 1977, other kid that worked there didn't put the oil plug back in and dumped 5 quarts of Mobil One on the bay floor then backed out to go for a test drive. It was The property owners car... the guy our boss rented the station from! Oooppss! Mobil One was $7 a quart then!

 

STANDARD OIL FROM HELL, worked there 1956-7-8, changed tires w/tire irons, my buddy also working there had a 56 ford that was always thirsty. we kept a 5 gal. can next to the pump and while pumping gas, if cust. was in restroom we put some gas in the can. when checking oil put your finger on the stick to look down a quart, then take an empty can and put the spout in it and act like you put in a qt then check again and show cust that it was full. most fun, put a bucket w/mop next to women bathroom ,made lock so it wouldn't lock, we'd fight to see who would take the mop and open the door like we were going to clean the rr. timing was very important. this was befor PLAYBOY mag, and guy's would do anything for a peek....HaHa

 

I worked at an Ampol Service Station in the late 60's in Rockdale a southern Sydney suburb, pumped fuel, cleaned around the station including the amenities, filled oil bottles, served customers.....must have been about 13 or 14, all bright eyed and bushy tailed............lol....memories........andyd

 

Hey Bob, you can really stir up some great memories sometimes. I worked weekends in high school at my best friend Dave Stamm's Dad's ENCO station, Stamms Enco on 124th and Burliegh back in 64/65. we had the place all to ourselves on the weekends and did more work on our cars than pumping gas. I remember that if someone filled their tank we had to give them a Green Bay Packer NFL glass. His dad sold the station in 1966 and bought a George Webb Hamburger restaurant and we thought, what was he thinking! By 1975 they had 9 restaurants and by the mid-80s Dave bought out his Dad and brother and sister and went on to buy out the rest of them and now Stamm Inc. aka my best friend Dave is sipping umbrella drinks way south of here.

 

hmmmm tell me more..

 

Stories.... Some funny, some sad, some bizarre; you saw a real cross-section of people at a gas station.

First station I worked at was a small one, but on a big lot at a main intersection. The station was at the rear of the lot, far enough back that it wasn't obvious. In those days SoCal had the state patrol contract, so the troopers would be in buying gas on a regular basis (this fact saved my bacon a few times...LOL). Anyway, a trooper is getting a fill and I'm waiting for the pump to click off. The phone rings; I'm the only one there, so I go inside to answer it. Just as I answer, the pump clicks off, the intersection light changes, and some moron smokes the tires off the light, past the station and out of sight. The trooper looks behind him and doesn't see me. He starts the car and floors it, smoking the tires and gushing gas out the back until he's out of sight. Tears the nozzle off the pump... About 20 minutes later he's back, not happy. Even less so when he finds out he tore the nozzle off. 'What do we do about that' he asks? I told him I'd turn this over to the manager the next day he's back, check back in a few days. The manager tells the trooper 'we'll eat the nozzle, but you owe us...' LOL.

Same station. Traffic is waiting in one direction, and a local delivery truck/trailer combo on the cross street makes a right turn. Too fast, and the rig flips on its side, hitting 3-4 of the cars waiting and coming to rest on top of two of them. After a bit, all the witnesses/participants end up congregating at the station. No apparent injuries among them, but a woman is crying and carrying on something awful. I ask her if she's ok, is there anyone we should call? Between sobs, she tells me her car wouldn't start, so she took her husbands pride and joy '58 Impala that she wasn't supposed to drive. You guessed it, it was under the trailer.... She kept repeating 'He's gonna kill me...'.

I transferred to Seattle and was working at a station about 1/2 mile off the freeway, with a big mall/office complex across the street. Best place I worked for the miniskirts... (the station by the U of W was the place for halter tops!) So one of our 'regulars' came in, a miniskirt gal. She was always very friendly; unfortunately, she was also packing about 20 extra pounds in all the wrong places. She says 'One of the red lights is on in the dash; can you look at it?' No problem I say, let's take a look. We walk to the car, and I open the hood... the problem is obvious; a freshly dead cat with it's tongue out and one bulging eye jammed against the generator pulley... oops. She's standing right behind me, leans around to look and almost faints. She refused to look under the hood for any reason after that.... LOL.

Same station, a Saturday night. After a series of late-night gas station robberies in the area, Standard Stations adopted a 'cash-exact change only' policy after 10 PM (the station was open until 2 AM). After 10, you were there alone until closing. All money was immediately put into a safe on the gas island, so no change was available. Now, most customers got it, but you'd get a drunk every so often that couldn't/wouldn't grasp the concept. So this car pulls in around midnight for full serve, the driver is hammered.
'Fill 'er up!' the guy says.
I ask 'Cash or credit card?'
'Cash, I got lots of cash!'
'Sir, I need exact change if you're paying cash'.
'Goddammit, I want it filled!'
'I still need exact change'. I hear his equally drunk girlfriend tell him 'Don't let that twerp tell you what to do'!
The guy starts to get out of the car, and he's a BIG guy; probably three inches taller and 80 lbs heavier than me. And while he's drunk, he's not THAT drunk....
'Sir, get back in your car'
'Listen you lil' mother f****r, I said I....' as he steps toward me...
Well, at this point it's going sideways in a big hurry. I pick up the nearest nozzle, pull the trigger, and splash gas all down the front of him while pulling my zippo out of my pocket. The gas slows him down, when he sees the lighter he stops.
'Unless you want to be the human torch, you better get back in that car and get the hell out of here' I tell him. With a string of expletives pouring out of him, he does.

But I had the make/model/license plate..... I called the Seattle cops and reported him. In those days, they had a really fast response time; about three minutes. I give them the info, they leave. Right before closing, another cop car pulls in.... with Mr. 'Fill 'er up' in the back. He looks considerably more worse for wear than when I last saw him too. The cop gets out, says 'Is this the guy?' and I tell him yes. I ask if I need to press charges, the cop grins at me and says, 'You can if you want, but he resisted arrest so you don't really need to'. I say, well, that explains the lumps and the cop grins at me again. 'Yeah, we explained to him that the SPD likes your exact change policy and he should too. I doubt if it'll be an issue again...'.

One last comment... Anybody who's ever worked a gas station back in day knows that the women's bathroom was always the nastiest one to clean....

 

OK, here are three funny filling station stories. I promise you that these are true and as accurate as my memory will let me tell them. I’ll try to condense them as much as possible. Background: I usually worked at an auto parts store/bicycle shop when I was home for summers or holidays. In the summer of 1970, however, one of the owner’s friends talked him into hiring her son for the job and I had to find other employment. One of my friends worked at a tire shop that had a Rich Oil filling station attached – and I signed on.

Full time employees worked one of two shifts: 6 AM to 2 PM or 2 PM to 10 PM. The boss didn’t want to pay overtime, so he hired some part-time help to take up the slack. One of the part-timers was a young guy who had to be the horniest 16-year-old I ever met. We had some really cute girls who came in for gas and he would almost drool on the windshields while he was cleaning them. A couple of the girls were pretty racy and they would tease and flirt with him. One day, I was standing in the station with the boss when one of the fast chicks pulled in. We saw him take the order, walk around the car and start pumping the gas. While he was occupied, we saw her slip out of her blouse and bra… I thought we were going to have to shove his eyes back into his head!

One of our full-time guys was a scrawny little dude who had the nickname of ‘Snake’. Snake was about 22 or 23 and was well on his way to becoming a full-fledged alcoholic. There was a bar across the street from the station and Snake would zip over there as soon as his shift was over. He was hooked on Timberwolves and could down more of them than his size would lead you to believe. One (seemingly unrelated) thing that you have to understand is that our windshield towels came in gigantic boxes – probably over 3 feet square. So, Snake showed up about a half-hour early for his shift one day and decided to go over to the bar… He stumbled back across the street just in time to punch in. I had opened that day and was ready to go home, but hung around after I punched out to cover for Snake while he got some coffee in him. By about 2:30 PM he still hadn’t come out of the back room where the coffee pot was, so the other afternoon-shift guy and I decided to go wake up Snake. When we walked in to the back room, we heard banging and someone calling “Help! Help!” Snake had sat down on top of an empty towel box, thinking it was full and fallen in. All we could see were two legs and two hands waving in the air!

Alpha Portland Cement had a mine/processing plant on the outskirts of our little town. This being 1970, the EPA as we know it still didn’t exist. Between the mine ventilation and the processing plant, there was always cement dust in the air… which, as we were in a river valley, is almost always humid. This resulted in a very fine layer of cement on any car parked outside, which was not easy to get off windshields! For some unknown reason, our gasoline customers repeatedly told us that we were the only station in town that got their windshields really clean. It was a mystery to all of us, but I never gave it much thought until the evening I walked into the station’s back room and caught one of the owners ‘cutting’ our bulk windshield cleaner with battery acid! He explained that, if used in small enough quantities, it didn’t seem to damage the cars’ paint… Yeah, right!!

As someone else said... you can't make this stuff up!

 

I remember in the early 60's riding with my grandfather to the old Red Bird gas station and he would always tell the attendant to fill it up with oil and check the gas. Always had to put in a bottle of bulk oil for about 25 cent or so.

 

I worked at a Gulf service station after getting out of the Air Force in 1988. I figured out the guy operating it was dealing something. I got the hell away from pumping gas and oil changes to become a driveshaft builder.
After reading the previous, I remember a trip to the Sunoco service station in Neoga Illinois. This was around 1975. The mechanic had just perform an oil change on a 71 Lincoln Town Car and had left the car idling in front of the shop door. All of a sudden, it started clattering and knocking, threw a rod. Bad day for them, and they were very good mechanics. I was young.

 

When I worked at this Shell station in N.J. {I wont say what town but it was a rich town} I give you a hint Mike Tyson lived there. How do I know?, because when he had a fight with his 1st wife{he was driving drunk and came home and started fighting with her.}Knocking a lot of the windows out of his BIG house .I was the one who had to hook up to his car and bring it to the inpound lot. LOL. Bruce.

 

1 more story.The owner of this Shell station had a big split boom 1964 chevy wrecker.I didn't like it because I was told it had electric brakes???.{very touchy}He also had a nice old 1964 ford split boom wrecker with air brakes. I liked that one. I towed a lot of cars in with that one. Well the owner wanted a newer wrecker and went out got one of the 1st ones that had the hydrolick booms that went straight up in the air. After he had lunch at the bar next store and came back shit faced he put the boom all the way up in the air and was driving all through town for all the people to see his new toy. Next thing I see he is be escorted in with about 4 police cars. They all knew him well. They told me to call his wife and take him home to sleep it off, And I had to let the boom down and park the new truck in one of the bays out of sight. LOL. Bruce.

 

WOW....lot's of great stories here !!
One of my most memorable ones was when I was pumping gas during a bad thunderstorm...
As I was pumping, lightning struck something extremely close, and I saw the lightning follow the concrete right past me at the base of the pumps then go down the road...actually felt the hair on my body stand up, and the sound was deafening..

Also, surprised no one has mentioned the little Standard Oil Co air valve caps that Standard gas stations gave away free for years.. several colors also..they had them by the box full..
I have four on my '63 Biscayne that are alleged to be original...
Keep the stories coming.. this is great !!